


Cinders, or, The Sparkling Silver Hubcap

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: 100 Themes Challenge [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cinderella Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Cinderella Elements, Fairy Godparents, Fandom Snowflake Challenge, M/M, Royalty, Step-parents, Step-siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 23:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17375042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: When Bluestreak had finished all his work, he was let go to the corner by the kitchen forge and sit down among cinders and ashes and so Pharma and his step-siblings called him Cinders.A retelling of Cinderella, with Transformers.





	Cinders, or, The Sparkling Silver Hubcap

**Author's Note:**

> Based on Andrew Lang’s [1889 version of Cinderella](%E2%80%9D) from [The Blue Fairy Book](%E2%80%9D). 
> 
> Written for Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2019, Day 10 using Prompt #61 from the 100 Themes Challenge, Fairy Tale.

Once there was a well-to-do mech named Hunter who took Pharma, the proudest and haughtiest Seeker on Cybertron, as his second _conjunx endura_. Pharma brought with him two creations of his own from a previous relationship, Starscream and Sunstorm, who were very much cast in the same mould. Hunter had a creation as well, Bluestreak, who was the very opposite of his step-siblings, being modest, kind, and gentle.

Pharma began to show his true colours almost as soon as the _conjunx ritus_ was complete.  He couldn’t stand Bluestreak’s good qualities, the more because he felt they made his creations look worse in comparison. Pharma made Bluestreak do all the worst housework, even that usually performed by the cleaning drones: he cooked, scoured the dishes and kitchen forge, and cleaned the bedrooms and the wash racks. Bluestreak recharged in the attic, on an old portable recharge pad that had to be thumped to work correctly, while Starscream and Sunstorm slept in elegant rooms on the highest-quality beds and with mirrors large enough they could see themselves helm to boot and wingtip to wingtip.

Bluestreak put up with it all patiently and didn’t tell his creator, who was ruled entirely by Pharma. When Bluestreak had finished all his work, he was let go to the corner by the kitchen forge and sit down among cinders and ashes and so Pharma and his step-siblings called him Cinders. Even poorly waxed and covered in ashes Bluestreak was much more handsome than the Seekers, even though they were always clean and polished to a high gloss.

One deca-cycle word came out that the King’s son, Prince Mirage, was giving a series of balls and had invited all the quality to them. Hunter and Pharma’s creations were among those invited, and Pharma’s two were delighted and became very busy selecting polishes and getting themselves detailed to the highest degree. Even though he had been asked to the ball, his finish and detailing was a problem for Bluestreak who, with Hunter away yet again, had no way to access proper polishes or pay a detailing salon to repaint him.

Bluestreak was called upon by his siblings to help them with their polish and paint choices because he always had good ideas and gave them excellent advice no matter how nasty they were to him. He offered to help them polish their wings, which they were pleased to have him do.

“Wouldn’t you like to go to the ball, Cinders?” Sunstorm asked.

“Oh, you’re just teasing me because you know I can’t go to a ball like that looking like this!” Bluestreak said.

“You’re right about that,” Starscream sneered. “Everyone would laugh to see a dirty, scratched mech like you at a ball.”

A mech other than Bluestreak would have streaked their polish where they couldn’t easily see or reach, but he was far too kind and did it exactly right. When they left for the ball, Bluestreak watched them as long as he could and didn’t begin weeping until he’d lost sight of them.

Bluestreak’s fairy god-parent, Jazz, overheard and appeared to ask what was wrong, hoping that this time Bluestreak would let him help. The laws of magic meant he had to have permission before he could use magic to benefit someone. Bluestreak had refused to ask for help with Pharma, and the other Seekers and Jazz hadn’t been able to do anything about them.

“It’s just I-I would have – would have liked – I –“ he couldn’t finish the rest, being too upset.

However, Jazz was wise and understood what the problem was. “You wanna go to the ball, right m’mech?”

Bluestreak nodded.

“Want me to help you with that?” Jazz asked because he always did. However, this time Bluestreak said ‘yes.’ “All right, then. Your Jazz is gonna make that happen for you. Come on.” Jazz helped Bluestreak to his feet and said, “go out into the garden and bring me one of the geodes that grow there. Make it a good one.”

Bluestreak did as he was told and brought back the biggest, finest geode he could find. Jazz struck it with a wand, and it turned into a luxurious personal transport – the very wealthy did not use their own wheels – covered over with beautiful gold detailing. Then Jazz had Bluestreak bring out one of the long-unused cleaning drones and, with another strike of the wand, changed it into a transport pilot.

“You’re all set for transport, Blue,” Jazz said. “What d’you think?”

“Oh, it’s amazing! Thank you! But – “ Bluestreak faltered because he didn’t like to ask for anything for himself. “I mean, you’ve already done so much, but I can’t go to a ball looking like this, all scratched and dirty.

“No problem, m’mech,” Jazz said cheerfully. “Gotcha covered.”

Jazz touched Bluestreak with the wand, and he was immediately clean, his paint restored, and polished to a beautiful, glossy shine. That done, Jazz gave him a set of beautiful silver hubcaps, which shone like diamonds when they caught the light.

“You shine up real good, Blue,” Jazz said, pleased with his work.

“Jazz, it’s wonderful!” Bluestreak cried, looking at his reflection in the transport’s windshield. “I look even better than Starscream and Sunstorm – not that they look bad – and I’ll fit right in at the ball!”

“Yup, you’ll be the best-looking mech there,” Jazz said proudly. “Gotta give you a warning though. Be back home by midnight cuz if you stay out one klik past that everything changes back. Transport back into a geode, pilot back into cleaning drone, and you’ll look like you did when I found you.”

Bluestreak promised his god-parent that he wouldn’t fail to leave the ball before midnight, then boarded the transport and was off, almost hugging himself in joy.

When Bluestreak arrived at the palace in his luxurious transport, shining in the thousands of lights strung up in the courtyard, word went ‘round that a mech who must be a prince, though no one knew him, had arrived. Prince Mirage himself came out to greet him, taking Bluestreak’s hand and leading him into the ballroom, among all the other guests. At the sight of him, handsome and shining, everything fell silent for a moment then a great murmur of appreciation sounded throughout the room. Even the king and queen told each other how it was a long time since they’d seen such a beautiful mech.

When they sat down to eat, Mirage showed Bluestreak to the seat at his right hand, though the prince was so busy admiring Bluestreak he forgot to refuel. Afterward, Mirage took Bluestreak out the dance floor and danced with no one but him all night, until Bluestreak heard the clock strike fifteen kliks to midnight. Bluestreak, remembering Jazz’s warning, had to make his excuses and leave as fast as he could, and would not give Mirage his comm frequency no matter how nicely the prince asked.

As soon as Bluestreak got home, he found Jazz, who was making free with the house’s entertainment system and thanked him again profusely. When he told Jazz about spending the evening with the prince, Jazz got a knowing look in his visor and grinned.

“Sounds like you two hit it off,” Jazz said, in a tone Bluestreak didn’t have enough experience to identify as ‘matchmaking.’ “How about tomorrow night I come back after the terrible three leave and work my magic again so’s you can go to that ball, too?”

Bluestreak bounced happily and hugged his god-parent, saying he’d like nothing more and he couldn’t wait.

The next day at breakfast all Pharma and his creations could talk about was the ball.

“If you’d been there,” Sunstorm said, “you’d have liked it. There was the finest mech there; the most handsome any of us had ever seen. The prince danced with him all night.”

“It was terrible manners,” Starscream complained. “No one else got a chance to dance with the prince at all!”

“What was the prince’s name?” Bluestreak asked, wondering how his siblings hadn’t recognized him and wondering if Jazz had done something to the glamour Bluestreak wore. Sunstorm shrugged.

“No one knew, and they didn’t introduce themselves.”

The next night the rest of the family, sans Hunter who was still away, and so was Bluestreak, detailed and polished even more attractively than before. Prince Mirage was always with him, flattering and complimenting him. Bluestreak enjoyed himself so much he lost track of time and was shocked to hear the clock strike midnight when he thought he still had a cycle to go. Then he fled, so swiftly that the prince couldn’t catch him, but he lost one of his silver hubcaps and was once again scratched and dull and covered in ash by the time he drove out past the palace gate.

The Prince picked up the silver hubcap (just as Jazz had intended, which was why it had fallen off in the first place and didn’t change back) and asked the gate guards if they had seen the handsome mech or his transport leave. The guards said they had not, they had only seen a ground-car speed past, and it was surely not the beautiful mech in alt, being as they had been very dirty and their paint dull and scratched.

The next morning at breakfast Bluestreak asked if the family had enjoyed themselves and if the handsome mech had been there.

“Yes,” Starscream said, “and they monopolized the prince again.”

“Deplorable manners on His Majesty’s part,” added Pharma, “I would have thought he’d pay a _little_ attention to his other guests.”

“He’s fascinated by the stranger,” Sunstorm said. “The stranger lost their hubcap on the way out, and he picked it up and kept it. Everyone’s sure he’s falling in love with the beautiful mech who owns it.”

Sunstorm was proved right. A few days after the second ball, the prince announced he would marry whomever the hubcap would fit. It was a custom piece, it seemed, and could only be worn by one specific mech. One of his attendants would visit each home until they found that mech and brought them before the prince.

Of course, when the attendant came to Bluestreak’s home, he knew it would fit neither Starscream nor Sunstorm, as they were not grounders and the stranger had no wings. However, he knew that grounders did live in the house and perhaps it would fit one of them?

“Our step-creator is away,” Starscream said with a little toss of his head. “There’s our step-sibling, but they’re not the one you’re looking for. They haven’t bothered to polish themselves properly in ages.”

The attendant had their orders and had Bluestreak brought to him anyway. The attended looked carefully at Bluestreak, below the ashes and sub-par maintenance, and saw he was handsome and besides it was the prince’s order that he try to fit the hubcap to every grounder.

The attendant had Bluestreak transform and, swapping out a dirty hubcap for the shining silver one, found it fitted the young mech as perfectly as if it had been cast for him. Starscream and Sunstorm were speechless and even more so when Jazz appeared and touched Bluestreak with his wand, restoring his beautiful polish and detailing and the other three hubcaps as well.

“You _traitorous_ little - !” Starscream began. Pharma, who was not without faults but was still more politic than his oldest, cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

“Y’always were the best of the lot here, Blue,” Jazz said affectionately, not without a smirk in the direction of Pharma and his creations. “Go on to your prince, now.”

Bluestreak was brought to the palace and presented to Prince Mirage, who was delighted to see him again and finally learn his name and begged and was granted permission to court him. Hunter divorced Pharma immediately, upon learning of Pharma’s abuse of Bluestreak,  and sent him back to Vos. Bluestreak, who was kind at spark and moreover knew much of Starscream and Sunstorm’s attitude came from their creator, gave his siblings apartments in the palace and in time they each found fine lords of their own.

A stellar-cycle after the first ball, Bluestreak and Mirage underwent the _conjunx ritus_ , to the joy of the kingdom. The old King and Queen stepped down for the newlyweds to take their place. They ruled the kingdom with kindness and wisdom and, for all anyone knows, they are living there still.


End file.
